What’s The Lasting Legacy of TikTok’s “Deinfluencing” Trend?
March 23, 2023 Robin Mosley
In March 2023, Neora was featured in Beauty Independent. In the article, Co-Founder and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Amber Olson Rourke discussed the value of listening to product reviews as a means of improvement.
A few weeks ago, the biggest influencer trend on TikTok was “deinfluencing,” and videos were filled with bad reviews of viral beauty products that creators warned their followers against buying. Products that had been hyped on the platform like Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Light Wand, Laneige’s Lip Sleeping Mask and Olaplex’s No. 4 Bond Maintenance Shampoo were summarily bashed.
As they do with most things on TikTok, creators have largely moved on from deinfluencing, but we were curious if the trend will have deeper ramifications than most fleeting trends fueled by the platform. So, for the latest edition of our ongoing series, we asked 14 beauty, marketing, social media and public relations entrepreneurs, executives and experts the following questions: What are the lasting effects of deinfluencing? Is deinfluencing being deinfluenced? Does it mean that brands should prepare for more critical reviews on TikTok and elsewhere? How should brands respond?
Amber Olson Rourke
Co-Founder and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Neora
Only time can tell on this, but I do believe a bad review can be more harmful depending on the reach of the deinfluencer. We need listen to deinfluencers seriously, and if they have a dislike of the product, they are telling us something valuable. We need to engage and help them with any concerns, miscommunication or whatever the situation.
Feedback—good or bad—only helps us do our jobs better. Ignoring deinfluencers does not make those existing concerns go away, and we’ve totally missed an opportunity to listen and improve.
I don’t believe deinfluencing will be deinfluenced. I think deinfluencers will continue to grow, and we as consumers will lean more into them to find products that we want to try because we trust their honesty and candidness.
Stand behind your product, but be prepared that not everyone will like it, and that’s OK. If you’re not prepared to stand behind your product, you’re in for a shock when you get a negative review.
Brands should be authentic in their response. That is what your audience is looking for. They don’t want a canned reply that multiple people get. They want an individual response, and true authenticity and thoughtfulness in the reply.
